• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.503-516
• /
• 2011

Uncertainty in concrete properties, including concrete modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture, are predicted by developing a microstructural homogenization model. The homogenization model is developed by analyzing a concrete representative volume element (RVE) using the finite element (FE) method. The concrete RVE considers concrete as a three phase composite material including: cement paste, aggregate and interfacial transition zone (ITZ). The homogenization model allows for considering two sources of variability in concrete, randomly dispersed aggregates in the concrete matrix and uncertain mechanical properties of composite phases of concrete. Using the proposed homogenization technique, the uncertainty in concrete modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture (described by numerical cumulative probability density function) are determined. Deflection uncertainty of reinforced concrete (RC) beams, propagated from uncertainties in concrete properties, is quantified using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Cracked plane frame analysis is used to account for tension stiffening in concrete. Concrete homogenization enables a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between concrete materials and structural modeling, which is necessary for realistic serviceability prediction.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.279-301
• /
• 2008

This paper develops a 3D homogenization based continuum damage mechanics (HCDM) model for fiber reinforced composites undergoing micromechanical damage under monotonic and cyclic loading. Micromechanical damage in a representative volume element (RVE) of the material occurs by fiber-matrix interfacial debonding, which is incorporated in the model through a hysteretic bilinear cohesive zone model. The proposed model expresses a damage evolution surface in the strain space in the principal damage coordinate system or PDCS. PDCS enables the model to account for the effect of non-proportional load history. The loading/unloading criterion during cyclic loading is based on the scalar product of the strain increment and the normal to the damage surface in strain space. The material constitutive law involves a fourth order orthotropic tensor with stiffness characterized as a macroscopic internal variable. Three dimensional damage in composites is accounted for through functional forms of the fourth order damage tensor in terms of components of macroscopic strain and elastic stiffness tensors. The HCDM model parameters are calibrated from homogenization of micromechanical solutions of the RVE for a few representative strain histories. The proposed model is validated by comparing results of the HCDM model with pure micromechanical analysis results followed by homogenization. Finally, the potential of HCDM model as a design tool is demonstrated through macro-micro analysis of monotonic and cyclic damage progression in composite structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.2120-2130
• /
• 2024

This study significantly reduced the seismic analysis time of PCSG assembly by introducing a reduced model using homogenization and sub-structuring methods. The homogenization method was applied to the primary and secondary micro-channel sheets, and the sub-structuring method was applied to the PCSG module sets. Modal analysis and frequency response analysis were then performed to validate the accuracy of the reduced model. The analysis results were compared with the full model and it was confirmed that the reduced model provided almost the same analysis results as the full model. To verify the computational efficiency of the reduced model, the computational time was then compared with the full model, and it was confirmed that the modal analysis time was reduced by 3.42 times and the frequency response analysis time was reduced by 4.59 times.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2008.11a
• /
• pp.684-689
• /
• 2008

In this study, homogenization method combined with the effective interface model for the characterization of properties of the nanoparticulate composites is developed. In order to characterize particle size effect of nanocomposites, effective interface model has been developed. The application range of analytical micromechanics approach is limited because a simple analytical approach is valid only for simple and uniform geometry of fiber particles. Therefore this study focuses on the analysis of mechanical properties of the effect interface through the continuum homogenization method instead of using analytical micromechanics approach. Using the homogenization method, elastic stiffness properties of the effective interface are numerically evaluated and compared with the analytically obtained micromechanics solutions. The suggested homogenization method is expected to be applied to optimization problems for nanocomposite design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.1209-1217
• /
• 2019

Due to the limitation of the computers, the conventional homogenization method is based on many assumptions and approximations, and some tough problems such as energy spectrum and boundary condition are faced. To deal with those problems, the Monte Carlo global homogenization is adopted. The Reactor Monte Carlo code RMC is used to study the global homogenization method, and the one-step global homogenization method is proposed. The superimposed mesh geometry is also used to divide the physical models, leading to better geometric flexibility. A set of multigroup homogenization cross sections is online generated for each mesh under the real neutron energy spectrum and boundary condition, the cross sections are adjusted by the superhomogenization method, and no leakage correction is required. During the process of superhomogenization, the author-developed reactor core program NLSP3 is used for global calculation, so the global flux distribution and equivalent homogenization cross sections could be solved simultaneously. Meanwhile, the calculated homogenization cross section could accurately reconstruct the non-homogenization flux distribution and could also be used for fine calculation. This one-step global homogenization method was tested by a PWR assembly and a small reactor model, and the results show the validity.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.324-329
• /
• 2008

The effect of ultra-high pressure homogenization on the emulsifying properties of whey protein was investigated in a model emulsion made with whey protein isolate and soya oil under various pH. The emulsifying properties, the average diameter of the oil droplets ($d_{vs}$), and the protein load, were measured for each emulsion produced at different homogenization pressures (50 to 200 MPa) and pH values (4.6 to 8.0). According to the results of variance analysis and response surface, the pH had more influence on oil droplet size and protein load than homogenization pressure. The model equations, which were obtained by response surface analysis, show that pH and homogenization pressure had the major effect on oil droplet size and protein load. Higher homogenization pressure decreased the average droplet size and the protein load. Homogenization at high pressure, as opposed to low pressure, causes no overprocessing, but the effect was pH-dependent. The average diameter of the oil droplets increased slightly by decreasing the pH from 8.0 to 6.5 and then increased dramatically toward the isoelectric point of whey protein (i.e., at pH 4.6). Moreover associated droplets were found at acidic pH and their size was increased at high temperature.

• Computational Structural Engineering
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 1995

A simplified stress analysis of perforated plates was carried out using homogenization technique. Homogenization technique, which introduced miroscale expansion in the standard finite element method, reconstructed the plate with regularly placed holes into a set of macroscale and microscale models. The microscale model helped compute homogenized material constants of the unit cell, which were used to compute macroscale displacements in the macroscale model. Also it was possible to compute the stress field of the plate using the microscale model. It was found that reasonable equivalent material constants were computed and that the required degrees of freedom was drastically reduced when homogenization technique was employed in the stress analyses. The microscale modeling in the homogenization technique provided a useful concept of pre- and post-processing in the stress analysis of perforated plates.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.7
• /
• pp.1379-1387
• /
• 2017

This paper presents a comparison of homogenization techniques implemented in the APOLLO3 platform for transport core calculations: standard scalar flux weighting and new flux-moment homogenization, in different combinations with (or without) leakage models. Besides the historical B1-homogeneous model, a new B-heterogeneous one has indeed been implemented recently in the two/three-dimensional-transport solver using the method of characteristics. First analyses have been performed on a very simple Sodium Fast Reactor core with a regular hexagonal lattice. They show that using the heterogeneous leakage model in association with flux-moment homogenization strongly improves the prediction of $k_{eff}$ and void reactivity effects. These good results are confirmed when the application is done to the fissile assemblies of the more complex CFV (Low Void Effect) core of the ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) project of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor (Generation IV).

• Composites Research
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.205-210
• /
• 2023

In this study, we developed a transfer learning framework based on homogenization data for efficient prediction of the effective mechanical properties and thermal conductivity of cellular foam structures. Mean-field homogenization (MFH) based on the Eshelby's tensor allows for efficient prediction of properties in porous structures including ellipsoidal inclusions, but accurately predicting the properties of cellular foam structures is challenging. On the other hand, finite element homogenization (FEH) is more accurate but comes with relatively high computational cost. In this paper, we propose a data-driven transfer learning framework that combines the advantages of mean-field homogenization and finite element homogenization. Specifically, we generate a large amount of mean-field homogenization data to build a pre-trained model, and then fine-tune it using a relatively small amount of finite element homogenization data. Numerical examples were conducted to validate the proposed framework and verify the accuracy of the analysis. The results of this study are expected to be applicable to the analysis of materials with various foam structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.44 no.1
• /
• pp.43-52
• /
• 2012

To compute a permeability coefficient along a rough fracture that takes into account the fracture geometry, this study performed detailed measurements of fracture roughness using a confocal laser scanning microscope, a quantitative analysis of roughness using a spectral analysis, and a homogenization analysis to calculate the permeability coefficient on the microand macro-scale. The homogenization analysis is a type of perturbation theory that characterizes the behavior of microscopically inhomogeneous material with a periodic boundary condition in the microstructure. Therefore, it is possible to analyze accurate permeability characteristics that are represented by the local effect of the facture geometry. The Cpermeability coefficients that are calculated using the homogenization analysis for each rough fracture model exhibit an irregular distribution and do not follow the relationship of the cubic law. This distribution suggests that the permeability characteristics strongly depend on the geometric conditions of the fractures, such as the roughness and the aperture variation. The homogenization analysis may allow us to produce more accurate results than are possible with the preexisting equations for calculating permeability.